
Located in Union, Kentucky, BBL is about 1.5 hours northeast of Louisville, just over an hour north of Lexington, and about 35 minutes southwest of Cincinnati. BBL is very easy to find once you get off the main interstate but check your GPS for your exit because there’s no interstate signage.
My kids got excited as soon as they saw the big entrance sign with picture of bison and mammoths. We went straight back to the outdoor diorama and the museum. While you aren’t able to touch or access them directly, the life sized replicas are really cool and the walkway above serves as a place for photo ops and also has several educational plaques.



We took the longer trail around the woods instead of heading straight back to the museum and ended up hiking around two miles. We did have to stop and take some water breaks after some steep inclines and I had to keep reminding my kids to watch their footing on the sharp descents, but minus some huffing and puffing, we all made it just find – including my active five year old. After a quick bathroom stop in the museum, we drove to the lake parking lot (which only has around 8 parking spaces) then hiked up some terrain steps to the lake at the top - another beautiful nature view with plenty of benches to relax. There is another two mile trail looped around the lake, but my folks were done with trails at that point! We also drove up to the campsite, which has mini-golf, a small camp store, and a pool for the campers.

All in all, we had a very fun and full day. When we stopped at the museum/ visitor center, there were several fliers about upcoming events – most of which were free. There are also educational scavenger hunts to make things even more interesting for older kids. Big Bone Lick State Historic Site has 813 acres with 40 acres of picnic grounds, a pavilion with more restrooms, 2 playgrounds and a 62-site campground with electricity, water, grills, bathhouse, and a pool.
Just one word of caution, there is NO cell service at the park – at least my AT&T phone didn’t pick up service until we were back towards the highway.
Dana